Overcast, rain and HPA/Barometric pressure

Good Morning Augusta

It’s raining out there this morning folks.  Stay dry.

Today we have thunderstorms likely, with the chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Our high will be 79ºF. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. 

Tonight we’ll have a few passing clouds with a low of 62ºF. Winds light and variable.

The readings from my weather instruments in the North field are:

Humidity is 99%, the dew point is 64ºF and its 68.3ºF outside.

The wind direction is East between 0.3 MPH and 1.3 MPH.

The Barometric pressure is 30.19 / HPA 1022.3 and falling with a weather graphic indicating rain.

The UV rating is 0.0 out of 16, Sunrise is at 5:11 a.m. Sunset is 8:18 P.M. Moon rise is at 6:17 a.m., Moon set is 3:13 a.m. and the Moon Phase is waxing gibbous.

The RAW METAR readings from the airport in Augusta Maine are:

SPECI KAUG 171100Z AUTO VRB04KT 1 3/4SM +RA BR SCT046 BKN075 OVC090 19/17 A3015 RMK AO2 P0006 T01890172

Visibility is 1.8 miles / 2.8 kilometers and rain with scattered clouds to 4,600 ft / 1,402 m., mostly cloudy to 7,500 ft / 2,286 m. and overcast to 9,000 ft / 2,743 m.

 We have had 0.07 inches of rain in the past 24 hours and it’s still coming down out there.

A few words about barometric pressure and HPA.

Just exactly what is considered “Normal” barometric pressure?

What I found to answer the question is that Normal barometric pressure at sea level is 29.92 inches of mercury. Any pressure reading higher is considered higher pressure than normal, anything lower is considered lower pressure.

According to meteorologists, low pressure that is “significant” is below 29.50" and above 30.50" is considered “significant” high pressure. 

Most everyone knows about Barometers and barometric pressure, but what does “HPA mean? When I post my weather readings I will post the barometric pressure in the same string as the HPA.

From an online source: hPa - Hectopascal Pressure Unit

Hectopascal is a 100x multiple of the Pascal which is the SI unit for pressure. The Hectopascal is the international unit for measuring atmospheric or barometric pressure. 1 Hectopascal equals 100 Pascals.

Due to its low value the Hectopascal is ideal for use as a measure of atmospheric pressure and other low gas pressures such as air flow differentials in air conditioning systems or wind tunnels.

One Hectopascal is exactly equal to One Millibar and although the scientific community has officially adopted the Hectopascal in preference to the Millibar, the Millibar is still used extensively throughout the world due to the proliferation of its use historically.